Ice cream shops are known as heladerías in Spanish, like an Italian gelatería, but with an H. That’s no coincidence: many Argentine heladerías can trace their roots back to Italian immigrants who brought their gelato with them.
Between the Italian influence on Argentine gastronomy and the sweltering summer temperatures, it’s no surprise that ice cream here is a wonder to behold.
While most places are open from lunchtime onwards, late night ice cream is a legit social proposal here. In the city center, heladerías stay open into the small hours, meaning that after 9 p.m. it’s easier to buy ice cream than beer in Buenos Aires.
A busy heladería can be a little overwhelming, especially if there’s a conga line of kids behind you. Pay at the till and then present your ticket to the servers. You can usually order cups, cones, or polystyrene tubs measured by weight — ideal if you’re taking it home to serve after an asado. You can also have it bañado, bathed in chocolate.
Many larger ice creameries have kerbside shops: you order through a little speaker, bank teller style, and the servers hand you the goods through a little metal revolving door. You can even order ice cream via delivery apps, too.
In Argentina, you get ice cream and ice cream. The best stuff is artisanal: Argentina’s Association of Artisanal Ice Cream Makers defines that as ice cream that’s made with high-quality, fresh ingredients and without artificial flavoring, colors or preservatives.
We’d advise you to avoid the mass-produced stuff sold in the cheap section of the supermarket deep freeze: it’s usually a suspicious shade of pink, has the texture of a washing up sponge, and makes you glow in the dark.
These days, being vegan doesn’t mean missing out on ice cream. Many heladerías offer specialist vegan flavors, and there are a couple of dedicated vegan ice cream shops, too.
Many of these places also do incredible coffee, cake, and chocolate. Hey, we don’t make the rules.
Argentine ice creams typically come in four categories: chocolates, creams, fruits and dulce de leche. Yes, dulce de leche gets its own category. Most flavors are about fine tuning the exact type and consistency of the chocolate you want with it. It even has its own three-letter acronym, DDL, because we mean business here.
These are some of the more unusual flavors you might come across:
Buenos Aires is languishing in a record-breaking heat wave that has seen the heat index rise above 40°C (104°F). We can’t do much about the weather, but we can at least tell you the best places to cool down with a good ice cream.
Herald favorites: Ice cream shops around Buenos Aires
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13.04.2024
Ice cream shops are known as heladerías in Spanish, like an Italian gelatería, but with an H. That’s no coincidence: many Argentine heladerías can trace their roots back to Italian immigrants who brought their gelato with them.
Between the Italian influence on Argentine gastronomy and the sweltering summer temperatures, it’s no surprise that ice cream here is a wonder to behold.
While most places are open from lunchtime onwards, late night ice cream is a legit social proposal here. In the city center, heladerías stay open into the small hours, meaning that after 9 p.m. it’s easier to buy ice cream than beer in Buenos........
© Buenos Aires Herald
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